The New Justice League: Invasion of the Bird People
by Gage39
Summary: Part 9. All plans are put on hold when the Thanagarians invade Earth. Heroes and villains must work together to save their planet even if it means possibly losing a relationship (why did Hal's ex have to show up!). Plus a surprise crossover with Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law.
1. Starcrossed

The New Justice League: Invasion of the Bird People

Chapter 1: Starcrossed

The invasion began like every other invasion: with the Justice League intercepting the Thanagarians transmission just as it was broadcast to the rest of the world.

"Citizens of Earth," the Queen of Thanagar was beautiful and reminded Wonder Woman of her sisters: the stance of a warrior was evident and the battle scars on her face did nothing to diminish her beauty. "I am Queen Hyathis of Thanagar. We have traveled quite a long distance to reach your planet and now that we're here we will not leave without a fight," her lips curled up into a smile and she now looked positively bloodthirsty. "Surrender or die-it's your choice."

"It's only Tuesday," Flash groaned as the transmission ended.

"Yeah the invasions usually happen on Thursday," Green Lantern agreed.

"I have heard that the Thanagarians are skilled warriors," Wonder Woman nodded in approval. "This should be fun."

Batman sighed, choosing to ignore her as he began to pull up information on the screen. "We actually have three Thanagarians currently on Earth but I'm only considering two of them as a threat."

Superman raised an eyebrow. "Why only two?" he wanted to know.

"Yeah," Shazam chimed in. "Why?"

"Because one of them has lived on Earth his entire life," J'onn explained. "As best as we can figure out he's never even seen another Thanagarian."

"Well that's one down and only five thousand to go," Hal sighed.

"We don't know just how many there are," Superman reminded him.

Wonder Woman nodded in agreement even as she pulled out her sword. "Regardless of their numbers we should expect a good fight. No doubt they will be arriving on Earth soon so we should be prepared."

"Agreed," Batman continued pulling up schematics and satellite images. "We should split into three teams. Wonder Woman, Superman and I will go to the White House and protect the President-Hal, Barry, you'll go to Fort Pegasus and protect the nuclear warheads there, we can't afford for them to fall into the wrong hands."

"And us?" Shazam raised an eyebrow. Since his powers had returned he had barely changed into his human form. "What're we going to be doing?"

Batman scowled, his face darkening as he hit the computer keys harder than necessary. He was more than a little suspicious of how the return of Shazam's powers coincided with the disappearance of Black Adam. Unfortunately the invasion was forcing his hand and he had no choice but to send Shazam into action. "The two of you will go to Midway City and track down Hawkman and Hawkgirl-if they talk we should be able to find a weakness in their defenses and maybe even drive them back."

Shazam rolled his eyes. "Gee, trusting me much?" he said sarcastically. Even J'onn shot Batman an exasperated look, having been forced to listen to more than a few of his paranoid ramblings, there were a few times when he regretted his oath to not mess with his friends' minds. Surely Bruce would be more likeable _without_ all of that paranoia.

"I guess we should get going," Hal didn't look very thrilled at the thought of possibly being exposed to nuclear radiation. Even though his ring was supposed to protect him from pretty much everything didn't stop him from feeling nervous in certain situations.

"At least you have a ring," Barry groaned. "I already have super speed-I don't really want to grow extra limbs or anything like that."

Wonder Woman shook her head in disappointment. "Men," she stalked off towards the zeta tube, Superman and Batman behind her.

"We should really get going," J'onn followed.

* * *

By the time the Trinity (as they were somewhat affectionately known) had arrived the first wave of the invading army had also arrived and were easily beating the Secret Service who really weren't having much luck even with their advanced weaponry.

"It's time to fight!" Wonder Woman dove into the fray, eagerly taking on a group of twelve Thanagarians, inadvertently saving the lives of three officers.

"Don't kill them," Superman reminded her. Much to his shock his heat vision had no effect on the mace his opponent was wielding. The weapon gleamed and his eyes narrowed as he came to the realization that he wouldn't be able to destroy their weapons. "This is certainly going to be a challenge," he sighed.

Batman chose to ignore his comrades and focused solely on the enemy. He had several new weapons to try out and perhaps he could use the opportunity to learn the weaknesses of the Thanagarians and how to defend against other invasions.

"The president's safe-all we have to do is hold them back and provide damage control," the head of the Secret Service seemed to be the only one that was actually able to hold his own. He had taken a few hits of course but he had also doled out a few of his own.

Batman noticed and made a mental note to find out who the man was. It couldn't hurt to have an ally or two higher up.

* * *

By the time the Thanagarians' message reached Earth, sending its occupants into a panic those that worked for LexCorp had already taken shelter in one of the many underground shelters that had been built specifically for that purpose. Thanks to the Outsiders magical abilities and his superior technology Lex Luthor had known about the invasion well over a week in advance and planned accordingly. All of his employees were safe with an Outsider at each bunker guarding them and he and Mercy were hidden in his own personal bunker along with the rest of his crew.

"Anything interesting?" Lex asked lightly as Mercy flipped through the channels.

"No sign of Shazam or Martian Manhunter," she reported. "The Big Three have the White House under control and," she stopped suddenly and frowned.

"What is it?" Lex was immediately on the alert. He rose up from the couch and strode across the room to stand next to her.

"It would appear as though Green Lantern and Flash are in a bit of trouble," she gestured towards the image on the screen.

* * *

Fort Pegasus was the United State's top nuclear facility and was a popular investing and testing ground. Typically it had the most advanced security in the world but obviously the Thanagarians hadn't gotten the memo.

It was taking every ounce of Hal's will power to keep a force field in place around the reactors. Flash was working double time as he attempted to not only safely evacuate all of the base personnel but stay out of the way of the Thanagarians' shiny weapons.

"Are you done yet?" Hal winced as his force field wavered yet again. Whatever their weapons were made of it was wreaking havoc with his ring.

"Just about," Flash disappeared, a pretty brunette in his arms.

"Thanks goodness," right about then a well-timed swing with a mace brought down the shield and he plummeted to the ground. "Ouch," he rubbed the now sore spot on the back of his head.

"Prepare to die, human," the Thanagarian standing over him was massive and swung a bloody mace straight at his face.

* * *

A/N: This story isn't finished yet but it should be by the end of this month. I hope everyone likes it and continues to follow my stories.


	2. Friend or Foe?

The New Justice League: Invasion of the Bird People

Chapter 2: Friend or Foe?

Hal squeezed his eyes shut waiting for a blow that never came. Cautiously he opened one eye to see what was going on then the other one flew open in shock. "Carol?!"

"Greetings, Hal," Star Sapphire Carol Ferris didn't turn away from the Thanagarian she had wrapped in her purple force field. "You love me, don't you?" her voice was sultry as she pressed a gloved hand to her breast.

"Yes," the Thanagarian gasped, his eyes fixed on her chest.

Shouts came from nearly and Hal quickly turned his attention to the other Thanagarians who had noticed what was going on and were rapidly heading their way.

"I don't think so!" Hal formed a giant green fist and send three of them flying just as Flash skidded to a stop next to him.

"Looks like you've got everything under-what is she doing here?" judging by Barry's scowl he wasn't happy to see Carol.

Hal shrugged. "Not really sure," he admitted, "but considering she just saved my ass I'm not going to complain."

Barry chose not to say anything but he did growl as he watched Carol continue to seduce her opponents. _This isn't going to end well, _he thought.

* * *

"This place looks kind of creepy," Shazam commented as he peered through the glass doors.

"It's a museum," Martian Manhunter gently guided Shazam away. "Not to mention its closed-all stores look creepy at night."

"But I wanted to look," Shazam whined.

"We're not here to sightsee," J'onn pointed out. "We'll come back during the day and then we can look around all you want; how does that sound?"

"But it wouldn't be fun then," Shazam protested.

"You shouldn't be here-it's not safe for superheroes," a female voice rang out from behind them.

The two turned to see two Thanagarian warriors standing at the end of the street. Both of them were wearing armor but not as much as the others, making them look slightly more approachable.

"You must be Hawkman and Hawkgirl, I'm-"

"Your costumes are so cool!" Shazam dashed forward, cutting off J'onn mid-sentence. "And I like your weapons! Maybe I should get a mace to," he mused.

Seeing that the hawks were caught off guard J'onn took the opportunity to speak. "As you no doubt know we're from the Justice League and we-"

"We were sent to see if you guys were evil or not," Shazam burst in, his excitement causing him to float a few feet in the air.

"Is something wrong with him?" Hawkman asked bluntly.

Martian Manhunter let out a sign. "I wish I could say yes just so I don't feel embarrassed but I can't. He just gets excited very easily."

"I can see that," Hawkman's tone was dry. "If you want to talk then we can spare five minutes."

"Excellent," J'onn smiled.

* * *

Paul Gambi let out a sigh of relief when he stepped into the Rogues Gallery hideout. He had only been here a handful of times over the years and even then only in absolute emergencies. Thankfully the invasion counted as such and he had been very relieved when Mirror Master stepped out of his bathroom mirror to retrieve him.

"You ok?" Captain Cold didn't look up as he zipped up his blue parka.

"Very, thank you." There were a lot of reasons why Gambi had helped the Rogues out over the years and this was one of the main reasons why-they were loyal to those who treated them well and took care of their own.

"Don't think us just yet," Heatwave grumbled. "We need you to watch the brats while we go clean up our city. Those birds are making a mess out of the place."

"I won't be able to stay," Lisa tired to sound apologetic but wasn't very successful at it. She wasn't very good with kids unlike her brother who had raised her on his own or Piper who volunteered at the homeless shelter on a regular basis.

"Help yourself to the food," Captain Boomerang appeared next to him. "The kids're sleeping for now."

"The place is booby trapped and this part of the base is underground so they shouldn't be able to find you," Cold hesitated then handed over a spare cold gun. "Just in case," he explained. "Shoot first and ask questions later."

"See ya later," Lisa waved as they disappeared through a mirror.

* * *

"This is fun!" Booster Gold laughed as he fired at the Thanagarians before ducking back behind the dumpster.

"This does not seem like fun, sir," Skeets, the robotic surveillance/guard drone from the future said as he too fired.

"That's because you don't have a sense of humor," Booster taunted. "Honestly the only way this could get any better was if Ted was here too."

As if on cue a blue bug shaped craft appeared above them, its brilliant lights momentarily blinding the Thanagarians, allowing Booster and Skeets to enter the ship unnoticed.

"Great timing, Ted," Booster grinned as he settled into the passenger's seat.

"Why don't you just wait for me next time," Ted Kord aka Blue Beetle II suggested as he turned the ship around and began to make a hasty retreat.

Booster flushed. "I…I was at the library," he admitted. "By the time we left the invasion had already started and I wasn't paying any attention so we walked right into them."

"Literally," Skeets groaned. "But that's what he gets for walking around with his nose in a book."

Booster glared at him. "It was a book on budgeting," he hissed. "The one time I try to improve myself like you guys keep telling me we get invaded! I don't think this self-help stuff is going to work."

Ted rolled his eyes. "I'll show you how to budget when this is over," he promised. "But for now let's concentrate on kicking these birds out."

"Sounds good to me," Booster agreed.

* * *

"Well this doesn't look very good," Harvey Birdman sighed. He had been hoping for a quiet, relaxing evening with a movie and cola but that obviously wasn't going to happen now.

Avenger, his Thanagarian bond eagle, cawed in agreement. Both of them were tired-it had been a long week after all fighting both Mentok and Reducto and running multiple secret missions for Falcon 7.

"There's not much else we can do, old friend. We should get out there and start driving them back," Birdman stood up with a sigh, popping his neck and back as he did so. "Go wake up, Birdboy," he ordered. "We'll need all the help we can get. I'll make sure this area is clear."

Avenger nodded and flew towards the back of their command center where the bedrooms were, cawing loudly as he did so. Already the sounds of someone stirring could be heard and Birdman had no doubt Birdboy would soon be up and ready.

Birdman took a deep breath then flew through the ceiling hatch, his fist and shield at the ready.

"Birdman!"


	3. Normalcy Is Overrated

The New Justice League: Invasion of the Bird People

Chapter 3: Normalcy Is Overrated

"How's it going, J'onn?" Batman's face was grimmer than normal and his cowl was torn, allowing a few locks of black hair to peek through.

"It's going well," Martian Manhunter reported. "Both Hawkman and Hawkgirl have agreed to help us drive back their comrades. If we can damage the motherships then they will have no choice but to withdraw. I'm sending the schematics to you and to Green Lantern with the Ares we need to damage highlighted."

"Excellent work," Batman said approvingly. They had successfully managed to drive back the Thanagarians that had attacked the White House. It had been a tough battle but thankfully no one had been killed. Wonder Woman looked rather disgruntled by the fact that her pants had a tear in them and the scowl on Superman's face did nothing to offset his black eye.

"We have to get going now," Martian Manhunter said apologetically. "Shazam is getting restless and the death toll is steadily climbing."

Unfortunately the Justice League couldn't be everywhere at once and so several civilians had already been killed as well as law enforcement officers and some incredibly stupid criminals who thought that trying to strike a deal with the Thanagarians was a good idea. (Newsflash: it wasn't.)

"Alright, we'll let you know when we've arrived at our target. Batman out," he ended the call and slipped the communicator back into his belt. Wonder Woman and Superman were waiting for him, no doubt alerted by Superman's otherworldly hearing.

"Where is our target?" Wonder Woman demanded.

"About six miles above us," Batman replied after checking the coordinates. "And twenty to the west."

Superman smiled broadly. "Sounds good to us-I'll carry you," he offered.

"I hate my life," Batman sighed.

* * *

"I hate my life," Barry as he pretended not to glare at Star Sapphire who was happily chatting with Hal as they rode in her force field bubble towards the Thanagarian warship. "Of all the allies in the world we got stuck with Hal's ex."

"Something wrong, Bar?" Hal turned to face him, a worried frown on his face.

"Nope," Flash growled through gritted teeth. "Not a thing."

"Okay," Hal shrugged then turned back. Carol sent Barry a triumphant grin before resuming their conversation.

* * *

"Well that was fun," Shazam grinned, his eyes and fists glowing.

"It was," Hawkgirl agreed, absently wiping some blood off of her mace.

"You are a disgrace to the Thanagarian Empire," Hro Talak, head of the Thanagarian army hissed angrily.

Dead soldiers were scattered across the floor and only a lucky few were still breathing. Hro Talak himself had a broken arm and multiple bloody gashes across his body. The heroes (all but Shazam anyways) were also injured but, thankfully, not seriously.

"Perhaps," Hawkman allowed, "but I can live with that. And you? Will you live or die?"

Martian Manhunter was about to intervene when Hro Talak spoke again. "I will live," he growled through gritted teeth, "but only because Thanagar needs someone to protect her since the two of you obviously won't do it. I'll order the evacuation but I would highly suggest you _not_ return to Thanagar anytime soon."

Both of the Hawks blanched but nodded, Hawkgirl blinking rapidly to clear away her unshed tears.

"The humans you're protecting-they'll never trust you after this."

"So what?" Shazam shrugged. "They don't trust us half the time. When the next invasion hits they'll forget all about this one."

"He has a point," J'onn admitted. "Humans are very fickle creatures."

"We are willing to face the consequences," Hawkman remained firm.

* * *

Less than three hours the Justice League and the Hawks stood in front of the Hall of Justice, watching as the last Thanagarian ship disappeared into the night sky. Star Sapphire was flirting with the reporters while the crowd sent dirty looks at the Hawks who pretended not to notice.

"You know they did choose to help us even though they knew they would be ostracized," J'onn pointed out.

"And your point is?" Batman scowled, certain he knew what the Martian was getting at.

Shazam threw an arm around Batman's shoulder, grinning widely. "Our point is that they would make great additions to the team. It would help them look better and us," he added as an afterthought.

Hal nodded in agreement. "A lot of people are really wary of us."

"It couldn't hurt to have some new blood on the team," Superman eye the Hawks warily, still slightly suspicious of them but willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Wonder Woman shrugged. "I don't really care," she said. "Flash?"

"Why is she-oh wait. I don't care either," he returned to scowling at Hal's ex-girlfriend.

Batman hesitated for a long moment. On the one hand it really would be better for everyone if they allowed the Hawks to join but…he couldn't let that happen. A voice whispered to him, pointing out all of the ways this could backfire. There were far too many risks, too many ways this could go wrong. For all he knew they could be working for Luthor or this could be a backup plan for the Thanagarians. No. He couldn't allow it-their secrets couldn't be revealed no matter the cost. "No," he said firmly. "We can't trust them, we can't trust anyone else."

Superman frowned but didn't say anything. He didn't know the Hawks well enough to try and fight for them. J'onn looked disappointed but didn't say anything. Wonder Woman had already lost interest and wandered off to comment on the Hawks' weapon while Hal was trying to convince his boyfriend that Carol _wasn't_ a threat to their relationship while Shazam simply stood there and watched everyone, his eyes still glowing.

"Is it just me or is his paranoia getting worse?" Superman inclined his head towards Batman who had vanished into the shadows.

"It's not just you," J'onn sighed. "I'm genuinely starting to get worried that one day he'll snap and kill all of us."

Superman blanched but nodded. "Do we have a contingency plan in place?"

J'onn glared at him. "And just how do you propose we take him down? Batman has plans laid out in case one of _us_ goes rogue-if he does then he'll just use them on us. I'm not sure we could take him down."

Superman frowned in though then grinned when he caught sight of Shazam. "What about Shazam? None of us know how to take him down. Regardless of which form he's in he's very powerful."

"That may be why Batman's paranoia is in overdrive," J'onn explained. "We still don't know how a lot of Shazam's powers work and I think that frightens him more than he cares to admit. I won't lie, it scares me to. He's immensely powerful and if he goes rogue then I honestly don't know what we can do."

Superman frowned, a sense of unease creeping down his spine. His mind wandered, trying to catalogue Shazam's weaknesses and powers. How much would he be able to destroy before they could stop him? Superman stopped and shook his head. "What am I doing?" he asked himself incredulously. "I'm turning into Batman-that's not good but still," he looked at Shazam again. "It couldn't hurt to keep an eye on him."

* * *

A/N: Only 3 more stories left and this part of the series will be completed! I'm fixing to start a new job so I make no promises when the next installment is posted. Happy New Years!


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